When To Chamfer?

I've started back into loading in the last couple of weeks after a 20 year gap and took out all my old presses, hand tools etc. After reading quite a lot on this and other forums and old sets of instructions on using dies for both pistol and rifle shells I noted that most leave out the step of chamferring the inside and outside lip of the casing neck before insertion of the bullet and final crimp. Is this still a necessary step with the newer dies now made or are the writers/posters taking for granted that one is supposed to know to do this step automatically? Thanks...

I don't do that unless they're rifle cases that need trimming. Then it's necessary. Seldom will you have to trim pistol cases...at least I haven't.

It doesn't hurt to work the inside of the case when loading bullets,it helps get them started.
But definitely do outside and inside if they have been trimmed.

I chamfer the inside of all my brass, regardless.

Obviously, if trimmed, both the inside and outside.

I only chamfer rifle cases. All rifle cases. I don't chamfer any handgun brass because the inner lip is essential for crimping, especially with semi-autos & taper crimps.

I wouldn't say "essential". If your boolits require a lip to bit into the boolit to keep them from moving under recoil, I would recommend more case tension, but to each their own.

I'm too lazy to trim, chamfer, or debur .45 ACP, .40, and 9mm, and only do revolver brass because it has to be trimmed for uniform crimps. If it gets trimmed, it gets a VLD chamfer on the inside and a very light deburr on the outside.

Gear

I chamfer all new (or new-to-me) brass inside and out, and all brass after trimming. Always have, always will.

All new brass (including any range pickups) gets run through the trimmer to make the proper SAAMI length. You'd be surprised at how many cases are out of spec sometimes.
After trimming, I chamfer the cases.
I check my lengths every 5 reloads to make sure they are still within spec. If they aren't they get a trim. I haven't had issues with this system in almost 15 years of reloading.

Bruce

IMHO, removing the sharp 90 degree edges has several benefits. rifle- slicker chambering, ease of bullet seating, and removes sharp edge to lesson stress fractures at edge. +1 on post trim. And we are talking breaking edge, not making gasket cutters or wad cutters. Which they are great for that if you need them. Gtek